Erosion of Dictatorship in the Time of Perestroika: The Crisis of the ruling Elites and the Demise of the Ideological Consensus in Czechoslovakia (1986-1989)
Abstract
Paper explores the crisis of the ruling elites at the end of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It brings the evidence on their incapacity to formulate their common interests and to find common point of their diverging values, interests and strategies.
The paper defends a thesis that the demise of the ideological language had - together with a rising importance of values built on the notion of individual effort, efficiency and benefit - specific outcome: since the ruling elites lacked the capacities to respond to unexpected situations (they were used to accept prepared authoritative decisions), their responses to the destabilization of Perestroika (both in terms of ideology and power) was full of uncertainty, "disappointment", "unpreparedness". The paper does not derive the demise of the system only from the sole fact of disintegration of the ruling elites.
Yet, it played an important role in the demise of the system, since it was blocking their ability to defend their power positions.